Home-made Vegetable Stock

One of the best vegetarian stocks I have ever sampled was that of Chef Norbert Kostner, the Executive Chef of the famed Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. He kindly shared with me some of his ideas for this superb stock and I have made a simpler version suitable for our home kitchens. To get assertive flavours, a ratio of 3 litres (5½ pints) of water to at least 5 kg (11 lb) of vegetables is needed, (although such a quantity of vegetables may sound extravagant, remember we are dist